Chapter 568
“......”
The guards stationed on the 90th floor peered down below with tense faces.
The feathered monster, which had earlier let out a horrifying shriek, had not attempted to climb back up since it was first shot down.
One of the guards spoke up.
“I’ll send a pursuit squad.”
“No.”
The senior necromancer in charge shook his head.
“Our mission is only to protect the 90th floor. Don’t think about anything else.”
“Yes, sir!”
The senior necromancer’s gaze sharpened as he looked down below.
Without a doubt.
For the briefest instant, when the feathered monster had been shot down, he had seen it spit something out—like cells splitting apart.
What did it release? They didn’t know its purpose or means, so this was not the time to let their guard down.
Boom—!
Moments later, his prediction came true.
BOOM!
KWA-AAAAANG!
A series of metallic collisions erupted from below. The impact was so great that even the tower’s walls trembled.
The 90th floor guards stiffened.
“An anomaly?”
“It sounds like it’s coming from the lower floors.”
The explosions grew louder and closer. As unease spread among the guards, the senior necromancer turned to them.
“Calm yourselves. Hold your positions and prepare black mag—!”
He suddenly cut himself off and turned back. A deafening roar split the air as something came hurtling toward the 90th floor and smashed into the wall.
A huge crack formed on the wall, and beneath it, a man in robes wearing a mask slumped down, panting heavily.
But the guards had no time to spare for him.
“Take cover!”
From below, gigantic pillars and pipes came flying straight at the 90th floor.
BOOOOM!
KWAANG!
The incoming debris shattered the platforms the guards were standing on, embedding themselves into the ceiling and walls. With the footing beneath them destroyed, guards screamed as they plummeted.
“It—it’s Girdon!”
Girdon soared through the air. Some of the guards hastily raised their staffs and unleashed black magic, but Girdon absorbed it all into his body as if he were devouring the spells.
The worst-case scenario had come to pass.
THUD!
Girdon landed on the 90th floor.
[Where is he?]
He swung his head from side to side. Ignoring the fallen Ivory Tower guards, he sniffed the air and began striding deeper into the floor.
<Sacrifice>
CRASH!
A flash burst from the senior necromancer’s staff, sending a dark curse flying.
This time, Girdon did not ignore it. The back of his skull warped like a hollow donut, letting the curse slip right through.
[Unexpected.]
As his head returned to normal, Girdon turned back.
[The Ivory Tower had someone capable of casting curses of this level?]
The senior necromancer who had fired the curse smirked faintly. He was the very one who had brought down Akemius.
“Thinking the Ivory Tower is weak against curses—that’s just prejudice.”
Killing intent flickered in Girdon’s eyes.
[Do not interfere! Keyzen must be erased cleanly from this world!]
“If you mean Simon Follentia, our guards are already driving him down below. I think you’ve made a mistake.”
Darkness rippled from the tip of the senior necromancer’s staff. A grating metallic screech erupted from Girdon’s throat.
[Foolish Ivory Tower dog! That bastard just now was Keyzen!]
“Even if the one who fled was truly Simon Follentia, a single student doesn’t matter. The one who must never be allowed to reach the upper floors is—”
CHAK!
His staff pointed straight at Girdon’s head.
“—you. Girdon, Sin of Space.”
[Do not interfere!]
Without hesitation, the two unleashed torrents of black magic at one another.
* * *
BOOOOM!
KWAANG!
From the entrance of the 90th floor, the thunderous sounds of battle rang out without pause. Simon, however, was sprinting forward, unconcerned.
[Kheheh! Just as planned! Girdon and the Ivory Tower fools are tearing each other apart!]
‘Yes, indeed.’
The hint from the Ghost of Time had been crucial. On the 88th floor, it had marked Girdon’s location with a rabbit mask.
Since Girdon wielded spatial black magic that could warp the tower’s space-time itself, the guards could never allow him to advance.
But while Girdon and the guards were locked in a bloodbath, Simon followed the rabbit mask trail left behind by the Ghost of Time.
‘Here?’
In one of the 90th floor rooms hung a rabbit mask. Simon opened the door at once and stepped inside. It looked like a plain office.
Nothing unusual.
Scanning the room carefully, he spotted a bulge on one wall. The rabbit mask was hanging there.
As Simon calmly ran his palm along the surface—
—shouts erupted from outside.
—There’s an intruder on the 90th floor!
—Find him! At all costs!
‘Of course they wouldn’t just leave me alone.’
The guards on the 90th floor must have called for reinforcements from other levels.
He had to hurry before being discovered.
As Simon frantically searched, his hand brushed against something rough and glass-like, not stone.
A barrier.
Shrrrk!
He immediately drew the Greatsword of Destruction and tore the barrier apart, revealing a magic circle hidden within the wall. The sealing runes had already been undone—no doubt by the Ghost of Time.
‘This is it.’
He pressed his palm against the circle.
Rumble!
The bricks receded inward, forming a small hollow.
‘Ah.’
A hidden fireplace.
Peering inside, Simon saw an open shaft leading upward.
‘A secret passage only the Ghost of Time knew!’
He promptly cloaked his legs in Darkness and began climbing. With Feer’s Bone Armor donned, scaling the walls was effortless.
Behind him, the fireplace sealed shut, plunging him into pitch darkness.
CLACK!
RUMBLE!
Almost at the same time, the door burst open and loud footsteps thundered in. Ivory Tower soldiers poured in.
Simon froze, holding his breath.
“Not here!”
“Move to the next room!”
The footsteps retreated. Simon exhaled in relief and climbed further.
‘How high can this passage take me?’
Even skipping five floors would help. With only five left, Simon could handle it on his own. Since things were already in chaos, he was ready to unleash the full power of the Legion Commander.
At last, he reached the top of the shaft—only to find it sealed.
‘Hm.’
He tapped the ceiling with his knuckles, then braced his legs against the walls to anchor himself. Planting both palms firmly above, he pushed with all his strength.
GRRRRK—
The ceiling shifted with a grinding sound. Once loosened, it rose on its own.
Light streamed into the darkness.
‘Good.’
Simon, covered in dust, pulled himself out.
And then—
‘......!’
He saw it.
In the center of the room stood a massive clock, frozen solid in ice.
‘Could it be...’
There was no mistaking it.
The very cause of all this chaos, and the infamous dungeon master that the former Ivory Tower Master had sealed with his life 300 years ago.
The Frozen Clock.
‘That means…’
This was the 100th floor.
Simon felt goosebumps rise on his arms as he stood up.
The fireplace hole he had just climbed out of sealed itself, restoring the floor to its pristine, unbroken state. There was no trace left behind.
‘Cold.’
He rubbed his arm, his breath turning pale and misty.
It was the chill radiating from the Frozen Clock. Frost clung everywhere, like a giant freezer.
Simon glanced around briefly, then spoke aloud.
“I’ve come all the way to the top floor, just as promised! Where are you?”
He called for the Ghost of Time, but the surroundings remained silent.
Even after guiding him through the secret passage to the 100th floor, the Ghost had not appeared.
After calling several more times in vain, Simon eventually gave up and turned back to the Frozen Clock.
‘What am I supposed to do with this?’
He had arrived two days earlier than planned. There were still past memories of Maelyn and Serne left to see, and he had yet to uncover the truth of the Ivory Tower’s secret.
‘Am I supposed to judge everything just based on what I’ve seen so far?’
Shrrrk!
For now, he raised the Greatsword of Destruction.
In the past glimpses of Maelyn and Serne, there had been no information about this Frozen Clock. Deciding it would be dangerous to touch barehanded, he carefully tapped the ice with his blade.
‘Solid...!’
Not even the Greatsword of Destruction could cut through it. Even sawing back and forth left no scratches.
It was an indestructible mineral.
Nor did it seem like heat could melt it. Simon stood still, like a scholar pondering an unsolvable riddle.
“Well well, the star of the show finally arrives.”
Tap—tap—
The sound of footsteps echoed through the 100th floor. Simon startled and raised his head.
Someone was approaching from the depths of the shadows. From the silhouette alone, he immediately recognized her.
Silver-ivory hair flowing, white feathers fluttering, walking with the majestic grace of a queenly figure.
“...Serne.”
“Heheh. Long time no see.”
She smiled sweetly, pinching the hem of her dress and bowing with elegance. Simon kept his guard up as he spoke.
“You should still be in the Dispatch Evaluation. Why are you here?”
“Oh, Simon~ how naïve.”
She winked.
“Since when have my little ‘escapes’ been rare? Remember last time? I abandoned my mission evaluation and went to Tarados just to see you. Think of this as the same thing.”
“......”
Simon let out a brief sigh.
“I’ll ask straight. You and the Ivory Tower Master—you’re working together?”
“Yes.”
The answer came so naturally that Simon’s heart sank.
“Then it’s my turn to ask a question.”
Her slim, pale finger pointed at Simon’s chest.
“Are you working with Keyzen Headquarters?”
“......”
Simon bit his lip but gave no response. She flicked her tongue with a smirk.
“For example... acting as a spy, secretly stealing information from the tower.”
She knew everything.
Yet she asked anyway—this was a declaration. We are enemies. Serne might as well have said it outright.
Simon had no more reason to hide either.
“Keyzen Headquarters believes the Ivory Tower is plotting something suspicious.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Her easy agreement stunned him. She raised her hand.
“Do you want to hear about our plan, Simon?”
When she opened her palm, several white feathers lay crumpled there. She blew gently, and they drifted into the air, sketching shapes.
“You remember the ‘sightseeing train’ on the first day, right? The Ivory Tower has been moving across the continent for 2,000 years.”
The feathers formed pictures.
The Ivory Tower in the jungle.
The Ivory Tower on an island.
The Ivory Tower in the desert.
Scenes Simon had seen from the sightseeing train.
“For over a millennium, the Ivory Tower’s stronghold had this very function: relocation. Thanks to it, the tower shifted locations once every 30 years.”
“......”
“But when they moved here, to the edge of the Dark Alliance for abundant mana stone resources, the ‘Dungeon Gate Incident’ happened.”
She lowered her hand, and the feather-pictures vanished.
“The crisis was contained, but the tower’s relocation magic was lost, along with countless other recorded spells. The Ivory Tower could never abandon its ‘home’. So it built a new tower nearby, integrating the natives of this land, sharing technology and constructing cities.”
“That became the Ivory Tower’s metropolitan area.”
“Exactly.”
She slowly walked toward the Frozen Clock and reached out her hand. Simon flinched and shouted.
“Wait, Serne! If you touch it carelessly, you’ll get frostbite—!”
But she only smiled softly and pressed her bare hand against the Frozen Clock. Despite its extreme cold, she caressed the ice without flinching.
“You really are kind, Simon.”
Her foxlike eyes curved into a smile.
“And I don’t hate that about you.”
“......”
Simon bit down hard on his lip. Serne withdrew her hand from the clock, clasped them behind her back, and turned.
“Back to the present. The Ivory Tower has finally restored the relocation function of the Tower of Time.”
“...What?”
“And it has always had a grand plan. A core plan older than Maelyn and me.”
To return to our true home.
To return to the Tower of Time.
But after the Gate Incident, the age of Necromancers and Priests began, splitting the continent in two.
The Ivory Tower was trapped in the Dark Alliance, forced to trail behind Keyzen.
Yet if the Ivory Tower could once again relocate, everything would change.
“We’re going to the Neutral Zone, Simon.”
For centuries, the Ivory Tower had invested relentlessly in the Neutral Zone, building influence with its powers and even negotiating with the Holy Federation.
This was Serne’s long-desired Threefold Division of the Continent. The Ivory Tower would relocate into the Neutral Zone and dominate it.
Currently, the Neutral Zone was a battlefield, torn apart by the Holy Federation and the Dark Alliance. Its people were weary and resentful.
Thus, the Ivory Tower would use its vast resources and technology to develop the Neutral Zone beyond even its current metropolis, win the people’s support, and establish a new kingdom in the continent’s center.
A new great power, positioned between the Holy Federation and the Dark Alliance.
The Neutral Zone had been “neutral” only because it was weak. But if a mighty force like the Ivory Tower claimed neutrality, it would be a different story.
“With two great powers and one neutral nation—what happens then? The side the Ivory Tower chooses will be the victor! We’ll hold the spotlight, the kingmaker’s role. The Holy Federation is already reaching out to us to gain that edge.”
Simon’s pupils trembled at the shocking revelation.
“Do you really think... that’s realistic?”
“The Ivory Tower is serious. We’ve spent over 300 years investing in the Neutral Zone. But my father, myself, and a handful of radicals in power—we see things differently.”
“What?”
“Even if we succeed in moving to the Neutral Zone, we’ll still be bowing to Keyzen. As you said, it’s too optimistic. I hate that. In truth, the radicals’ real goal is a Twofold Division of the Continent.”
Her lips curled into a smile.
“We’ll relocate the Tower of Time right into the heart of Roke Island.”
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters